Reflections on 1 Corinthians 5

1 Corinthians 05 (Contemporary English Version)
1. I have heard terrible things about some of you. In fact, you are behaving worse than the Gentiles. A man is even sleeping with his own stepmother.
   
2. You are proud, when you ought to feel bad enough to chase away anyone who acts like that.
   
3. I am with you only in my thoughts. But in the name of our Lord Jesus I have already judged this man, as though I were with you in person. So when you meet together and the power of the Lord Jesus is with you, I will be there too.
   
4. (SEE 5:3)
   
5. You must then hand that man over to Satan. His body will be destroyed, but his spirit will be saved when the Lord Jesus returns.
   
6. Stop being proud! Don't you know how a little yeast can spread through the whole batch of dough?
   
7. Get rid of the old yeast! Then you will be like fresh bread made without yeast, and that is what you are. Our Passover lamb is Christ, who has already been sacrificed.
   
8. So don't celebrate the festival by being evil and sinful, which is like serving bread made with yeast. Be pure and truthful and celebrate by using bread made without yeast.
   
9. In my other letter I told you not to have anything to do with immoral people.
   
10. But I wasn't talking about the people of this world. You would have to leave this world to get away from everyone who is immoral or greedy or who cheats or worships idols.
    
11. I was talking about your own people who are immoral or greedy or worship idols or curse others or get drunk or cheat. Don't even eat with them!
    
12. Why should I judge outsiders? Aren't we supposed to judge only church members?
    
13. God judges everyone else. The Scriptures say, "Chase away any of your own people who are evil."
    
    

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    Pride was at the root of the issues Paul addressed in the first four chapters, issues of thinking too highly of themselves and their spiritual status. Now pride is also at the root of this next issue Paul is addressing, that of sexual immorality in the church. How is pride related to this issue? Pride focuses one's attention on self giving little thought to others. Thus the Corinthian Christians were either ignoring the immorality in the church due to inattention beyond their own concerns or due to denial of anything that might take away from their perceived spiritual status. On the other hand, perhaps, as one commentator suggests, they were proud of their tolerance toward this offender. Regardless, both the pride and the ignoring of the immorality in their midst points to the accuracy of Paul's charge in chapter 3 that rather than being "spiritual people" they were "babies in Christ." (3:1)
    
    Corinth was a city noted for the immoral and vicious habits of its people. But Paul makes it clear that this is not the target of his concern, saying he was "by no means referring to this world's immoral people . . . otherwise you would have to leave the world." (5:10) His concern was immorality in the church. In particular, a church member who was living, incestously, with his stepmother. This behavior went beyond the conduct of those outside the church. It was an infraction, even, of Roman law.
    
    Paul gave two reasons for why the Corinthian church needed to address this issue: the potential spread of such behavior within the church, and to help the person caught up in this behavior. As for the first reason, Paul likened it to the Jewish practice of removing yeast from their houses during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. It illustrated the removal of sin. As yeast will permeate the whole batch of dough if not removed, so will be the effect of sin in the church. As for the second reason for addressing the issue, the Corinthian's ignoring of the problem was not helping the person caught up in the sin. It could even be perceived as approval of the behavior. Instead, Paul counseled them to disassociate themselves from this individual. In effect, to "turn that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord." (5:5) If this seems unloving, we should remind ourselves that no one benefits by ignoring the situation. If dealt with in this manner, the church will benefit and hopefully the offender will also benefit. But whether he benefits or not, that will be his choice.